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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929091">Blood is Just Red Sweat</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidi/pseuds/Sidi'>Sidi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Universe, Dark Thoughts, Dark lovebug au, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Langst, Lovebug, Lovebug AU, M/M, Misunderstandings, Self-Doubt, Set before Shiro disappears when the team is still a team, So early seasons not later seasons, okay thats an understatement, some violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 06:53:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidi/pseuds/Sidi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A darker lovebug AU<br/>All Lance wants to do is relax on an easy mission when things become complicated and even deadly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Lance (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Just some pretty nice fics</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The planet is strange. It is mostly a vast, icy ocean with icebergs. Everything is covered in what should be snow, little flakes dropping softly to the ground and gathering in little piles of white fluff.</p><p>But, in contrast to the snowy appearance, the planet is warm. The “snow” is lukewarm though it does still melt when touched or eaten (Lance has no regrets about sticking his tongue out and catching a few flakes, no matter what Allura says).</p><p>It creates a feeling of dissonance, no sun, yet warm, snow, but none of the cold, icy atmosphere expected with that type of weather.</p><p>They are there to find resources, little red balls of flowers that glow a little bit, but apparently, when crushed, create some of the fuel needed for the healing pods. The planet is uninhabited and, despite the surreal temperature issue of being warm when it should be cold, it feels peaceful.</p><p>Lance can’t stop himself from throwing a snowball at Keith’s head which turns into a mini-snowball fight between the paladins, only stopped when Shiro gives them the dad face to settle them down. Nevertheless, there is a clear divide between the workers and the players on the team right now. Allura and Shiro gather the little balled flowers with Keith close behind. Meanwhile, Pidge is analyzing the chemical make-up of the planet, trying to figure out the molecular compound that would make the “not snow” work.</p><p>Hunk and Lance trail off and climb a small hill with fairly steep inclines on every end to perform the most important task of the day.</p><p>Building a snowman.</p><p>It is something that Lance has only done once and Hunk has never done. They choose the hill so that their snowman can be easily seen on a platform, a little “not snow” king looking over their kingdom.</p><p>Despite their best efforts, it doesn’t quite work. The “not snow” doesn’t bind like real snow, but they try their best, creating a little two foot figure that is more of a pyramid shape than a person.</p><p>“Let’s name him…bongo,” Lance says.</p><p>“Bongo?”</p><p>“Why not?”</p><p>“Bongo needs eyes…” Hunk says.</p><p>“And a scarf…” Lance responds.</p><p>Lance takes two of the little red flower balls and sticks them on the snowman, laughing at the effect.</p><p>“You know those are valuable materials to help save us, right,” a deep voice emerges from the side.</p><p>Lance would know that voice anywhere. Keith, the killjoy. Keith, the cute killjoy. Keith, the killjoy whose voice sometimes sends a little tremble up Lance’s spine.  </p><p>“<em>You know those are valuable materials to help save us, right</em>?” Lance repeats back to him, making his voice high-pitched and obnoxious.</p><p>Keith furrows his brow, arms crossed though Lance spies a hint of a smile on his face. “Real mature.”</p><p>“Don’t pretend like you don’t want to join us,” Hunk says, waving a hand at their little creation.</p><p>Keith pauses, his mouth opening. He doesn’t get to respond though, because Lance takes this chance to nail him again with a not snowball.</p><p>It’s a great shot, directly in the face, some of it getting in his mouth too.</p><p>“Lance!” Hunk yells.</p><p>Lance prepares for retaliation. Keith has one hell of an arm and he fully expects to either feel the wrath of not snowballs hitting him like little missiles or Keith tackling him to the ground.</p><p>Keith marches over, barely bothering to wipe the snow from his face. Lance braces himself, not expecting it when Keith lifts one of his feet and stomps on the snowman.</p><p>“Bongo!” Lance screams, reaching out an arm to push Keith.</p><p>He doesn’t get a chance though. Perhaps some combination of the compacted snow or just this area of ground led to a dark, slick patch forming underneath Bongo. The “not ice” is just as slippery as real ice and Keith’s foot slips out from underneath him.</p><p>He attempts to right himself, but it makes things worse as he flails, unable to find traction, slipping until he goes down and rolls to the bottom of the small hill.  </p><p>It is, by far, the most ridiculous Lance has ever seen Keith look. Keith, always so cool and aloof, proving he is a mere mortal by being just as clumsy as everyone else sometimes.</p><p>Lance snorts, looking down at a disgruntled looking Keith.</p><p>“Oh my god, I wish I had a camera, did you see that?” he nudges Hunk and laughing loudly, his voice echoing across the glacier-filled valley.  </p><p>“You ok?” Hunk calls down.</p><p>“Yeah…there are some blue balls down here. Do you think we need them too? Ask Allura.”</p><p>The others were already approaching, perhaps drawn by Keith’s shout as he fell or Lance’s loud laughter. Pidge is still taking samples and Allura and Shiro appear to have many of the little flower balls needed.</p><p>“There are some blue flowers down here. Do we need them?” Keith repeats his question for her.</p><p>“I am unaware of any blue flowers on this planet or what benefits they might have. Leave them and we can move on. We have enough fuel now,” Allura responds, peering down at a disheveled looking Keith.</p><p>“Alright,” Keith calls up, starting the climb up the incline. When he reaches the top, his face looks red and sweaty, strange because it is only a small incline, not enough of a climb to wind someone like Keith. He stomps over to where the others are gathered in a group. Lance assumes this is the moment where he will receive his retaliation, a not snowball to the face or something. Maybe getting thrown down the incline as well. I mean, it isn’t his fault that Keith decided to murder Bongo and slip on ice while doing it though.</p><p>What he doesn’t expect is Keith, in one smooth, deadly fast movement, manifesting his blade, not even hesitating before stabbing it into Lance’s chest with strength and precision.</p><p>There is a desperate pain, a struggle to breathe, shouts, an arm around him, and then darkness and nothing more.</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lance is sure that Keith stabbing him is just a weird mistake and he intends to prove it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It is Shiro who saves his life.</p>
<p>His experience in the arena gives him sharper reflexes than most, in addition to the ability to sense the primal, violent nature of living beings, from blood thirst to rage to violence. He recognizes it in Keith too late to stop the attack entirely, but in just enough time to deflect. Rather than a knife through his heart, Lance only receives a knife through his chest, missing the vital spot that would have killed him before they could even begin to save his life.</p>
<p>Not that Lance remembers this in the sweet blank peace of a healing pod.</p>
<p>Lance stumbles forward gently, falling like the flakes of not snow on the planet he is, or was on. He is stopped by the rock hard expanse of Shiro’s chest.</p>
<p>Lance looks around, bleary, brain trying to catch up with how he was building a snowman one moment and here the next. Here, being the Castle, emerging from a healing pod with no one else in the room except for Shiro.</p>
<p>“How do you feel? Can you stand?” Shiro asks.</p>
<p>Lance pushes away from him and straightens with a cough. “Yeah…why? Why am I here?”</p>
<p>Lance thinks back, not getting much clarity from his memories except for the planet, the little red balls, Bongo, and sudden pain.</p>
<p>“What do you remember?” Shiro asks, dropping his eyes to the ground in an uncharacteristic show of…something. He seems fidgety, which does nothing to calm Lance’s nerves and growing suspicions that something is wrong.</p>
<p>“We were playing on the not snow planet…then Keith stomped on our snowman…” then, a memory of sharp steel and equally sharp pain in his chest.</p>
<p>“Did Keith…did he stab me?”</p>
<p>“Well…” Shiro says, looking to the side.</p>
<p>“Did he accidentally slip or something?” It seems unfathomable to Lance that his memory is correct, that Keith deliberately tried to kill him. He knows they have had fights before, but Keith couldn’t actually want him dead.</p>
<p>Shiro sighs and then raises his head, jaw set. “Lance, we believe Keith has been compromised.”</p>
<p>“Compromised? What does that mean?”</p>
<p>“It means that him stabbing you wasn’t an accident and we don’t know why. His behavior right now is alarming and unlike Keith in many regards.”</p>
<p>Worry blooms inside Lance’s chest.</p>
<p>“We have him locked up in a cell right now…”</p>
<p>“A cell?!”</p>
<p>“It’s for his own good, along with yours.”</p>
<p>“What do we know right now?”</p>
<p>“It <strong>is </strong>Keith, meaning not a shapeshifter of some sort taking his form or tricking us. Beyond that, we don’t know much. Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and Coran are approaching this issue from multiple angles right now. We will figure it out and we will figure out why Keith is acting so violently toward you.”</p>
<p>Up until this moment, Lance had assumed that Keith’s violence was a blanket thing, something against Voltron as a whole. He just happened to be the first target.</p>
<p>“Toward me?”</p>
<p>Shiro immediately looks uncomfortable again. “His altered behavior only seems to be directed toward you. He is normal around the rest of us.”</p>
<p>“Wow.”</p>
<p>“We have several working theories that could explain this. Something has compromised him and whatever that is may not have been able to direct his behavior toward a specific target. It may be completely random. It may be the first person he sees. It may even be that they were able to get a piece of your DNA and not ours for whatever reason. It may be that they picked a target at random.”</p>
<p>“Or maybe he just hates me the most,” Lance jokes, not quite landing the light tone he intends.</p>
<p>Shiro grabs his shoulder. “No, Lance. Keith does not hate you. I know this for a fact. Something happened to Keith and we will figure out what it is and help him.”</p>
<p>Lance nods.</p>
<p>They break apart then, Lance to get food and Shiro to check up on everyone. Lance eats two bites of some food goo before his stomach twists.  </p>
<p>Now that his head is less foggy, he remembers it clearly. The look in Keith’s eyes. The deadly determination. The blade plunging into his chest.</p>
<p>He stands up, making his way to where the rest of the team is, hoping that they already have a solution and that it doesn’t involve Keith just straight up hating him.</p>
<p>When he reaches their makeshift command station, Shiro is standing off to the side, looking on as Coran plays with a few beakers and vials, one possibly containing blood, Allura furiously types on a datapad, and Pidge and Hunk hover over her laptop, whispering to each other. They all quiet when he enters the room, and then he is grabbed into a group hug.</p>
<p>“Are you ok?” Hunk asks.</p>
<p>“We were so worried,” Allura adds.</p>
<p>“Quite a scare you gave us,” Coran says.</p>
<p>Pidge is silent, but the bags under her eyes clearly relate how little she has been sleeping or resting for however long Lance has been in the pod. </p>
<p>“Guys, I’m fine. Promise. Now, have we fixed Keith yet?”</p>
<p>Allura shakes her head. “We are trying everything we can. We took blood samples. We are also researching any possible way of corrupting a person as well as the history of that planet.”</p>
<p>“We are analyzing his brain patterns and a blood sample right now. It’s so weird…I can’t quite make sense of his readings,” Pidge murmurs.</p>
<p>“We questioned him, but can’t figure out anything that happened to him out of the ordinary. He also swears he feels fine and not drugged or anything,” Hunk adds. </p>
<p>“We will figure out what is wrong with Keith and heal him though. I promise you that,” Allura says, determination in her eyes. </p>
<p>Lance nods, looking over his harried teammates back to work already, and then back at Shiro, standing off to the side. He realizes that, while the others research and run blood tests, there isn’t much that he or Shiro can do until there is need for some action.</p>
<p>“Can I see him?” Lance asks suddenly, feeling a strange emotion in his chest at the thought of Keith locked away in a cell somewhere in what should be his home.</p>
<p>There is a moment of still silence before anyone speaks.</p>
<p>“Not a good idea, buddy,” Hunk says nervously at the same time as Shiro says “No” and Pidge shakes her head.</p>
<p>“He can’t be that bad, can he?” Lance asks.</p>
<p>“Well, he did literally try to kill you…” Pidge says.  </p>
<p>“Under no circumstances do you go see Keith. I’m sorry, but I forbid it. You should rest or stay here and help us,” Allura says.</p>
<p>Lance nods. “I think I’m going to go try to rest. Feeling a little off from the pod.”</p>
<p>There are gentle nods and murmurs, everyone already back to researching and typing and looking at Keith’s blood under microscopes.</p>
<p>Lance turns, walking out of the room, making his way to his own room. However, when he reaches it, he continues walking.</p>
<p>They can’t tell him what to do when it comes to Keith.</p>
<p>This is Keith.</p>
<p>Not some monster to keep hidden away.</p>
<p>If he is confused, then he needs help. Maybe Lance can reason with him or get information from him. Maybe it is a mistake and Keith really did just trip. Just a misunderstanding. A blip that will soon be behind them.</p>
<p>Lance walks down the long hallway where the ship keeps its cells and opens the door. The line of cells is empty except for the one at the end of the row. Lance can see Keith’s hunched figure, dark hair covering most of his face as hugs himself.</p>
<p>Lance takes a deep breath and steps forward. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>A transition chapter before...a not good time for Lance next chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lance talks to Keith and hears a few horrible "truths"</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One more chapter after this...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Shiro, listen to me…” Keith says without raising his head as Lance approaches.</p>
<p>“Keith?” Lance says, timidly, the word caught in his throat.</p>
<p>The result is instantaneous.  Keith jumps to his feet and whirls around, a sneer marring his face that Lance has never seen before, not even when facing the worst of the Galra.</p>
<p>“You!” Keith snarls, stalking toward him, only stopped by the Altean glass separating them.</p>
<p>Lance raises his hands in a defensive move.</p>
<p>“Why would you even show your face here?” Keith yells, face red.</p>
<p>Lance’s stomach drops. The small bit of hope he has that it is all a misunderstanding dissipates into the air.</p>
<p>“Keith,” he finally says, weakly.</p>
<p>“Don’t say my name. Do you know how much I hate it when you say my name? You don’t deserve it.”</p>
<p>“You were corrupted or poisoned or something…you aren’t yourself.”</p>
<p>“Nope-I feel great. I’m finally being honest, finally saying what we have all been thinking.”</p>
<p>“Fuck you!” Lance finally allows some indignant anger to rise at Keith’s words.</p>
<p>“No, fuck you. I hate seeing your ugly face every day, I can’t escape it. Why don’t you just go away?”</p>
<p>Lance swallows, unsure how to deal with Keith’s rage being directed at him. “I’m saving the universe with you, asshole.”</p>
<p>“You are saving shit. No one likes you and no one wants you here. Don’t you realize that you are holding us back, Lance?” Keith says his name like it is a curse word.</p>
<p>“I…”</p>
<p>“You aren’t a great pilot. You aren’t smart. You aren’t athletic. You’re annoying. Why are you even here? What do you bring to this team? We probably could have saved the universe if it wasn’t for you holding us back!”</p>
<p>“You don’t mean that…”</p>
<p>“Like hell I don’t. I can’t stand you. I hate you!” Then, Keith raises his fist, punching the glass partition so hard that Lance hears a disgusting crack and sees blood. He turns and runs then, knees shaking as he goes.  </p>
<p>He considers going back to his room, but his body moves past it while his brain struggles to catch up. He decides that he doesn’t want to be alone right now, not really, not after what was just thrown in his face. He needs people and reassurance, even if it’s just being in someone else’s presence while they work. He makes his way down the hallway and stops just outside the door where he knows Pidge and Hunk are working. He stops, hand hovering over the pad to open the door when he hears a few words.</p>
<p>“…but we can’t tell Lance,” Pidge’s muffled voice says.</p>
<p>“Why? What did you find?” Hunk responds.</p>
<p>“The translation is a bit weird, but apparently the blue flowers are the problem. They carry little bugs that transmit poison into a host’s system…”</p>
<p>Lance’s feelings soar, hope flooding him. Poison. Keith is poisoned. That’s all this is.</p>
<p>“Can it be cured?”</p>
<p>“It will just wear off, pretty quickly in fact.”</p>
<p>“Great, so what’s the problem? Why can’t we tell Lance?”</p>
<p>“The poison only takes away inhibitions and restraint. It does not create feelings or emotions. It is a type of emotional truth serum.”</p>
<p>“I don’t believe that.”</p>
<p>“There is also some indication that it slightly amplifies those feelings…but we need to come up with something else entirely to tell Lance.”</p>
<p>“We have to be wrong!”</p>
<p> “Keith is an asshole. Seriously you can dislike someone without…”</p>
<p>Lance walks away then with short, choppy steps. His body doesn’t quite feel right. He feels numb, unable to process anything. He makes his way to his room as quickly as possible and then slips into bed, pulling the covers over his head.</p>
<p>No one comes to see him.</p>
<p>Which makes sense. They don’t know that he went to see Keith. They don’t know he heard what Pidge and Hunk said. They don’t know that he knows the truth.</p>
<p>Keith actually hates him.</p>
<p>It must be pretty powerful hate if just amplifying it makes Keith want him dead. His feelings are so strong that, once his self-control is taken away, he immediately tries to end Lance’s life. Like, he could handle it better if Keith had just made fun of him or ignored him or something. Reasonable dislike.  </p>
<p>But trying to kill him?</p>
<p>The hate in his face as he snarled at Lance…</p>
<p>Lance shudders in his bed, trying to ignore the wetness of his eyes.</p>
<p>He always thought that he and Keith had bonded. That everything was ok and maybe they even enjoyed each other’s company now. Maybe he even more than just enjoyed Keith’s company and sometimes let his eyes linger on the red paladin for a bit too long or thought about him a bit too much at night before bed when everyone else is asleep. He thought they made a pretty good little team. Not just the two of them, but all of the paladins worked together well, didn’t they? Didn’t they form Voltron and feel that positive bond coursing through all of them?  </p>
<p>But Keith is right. What does Lance bring to the team? Especially compared to the people who surround him, Shiro, Allura, Pidge, Hunk, and, of course, Keith. All of them are stronger, smarter, faster…</p>
<p>Lance feels like he is always just not good enough, just missing the mark.</p>
<p>And that has to be annoying to other people right? To always have someone around who can’t quite cut it. Who is only destined to be a cargo pilot.</p>
<p>Do Hunk and Pidge resent having to explain things to him sometimes? Does Allura resent his jokes? Does Shiro think he <strong>is</strong> a joke?</p>
<p>Another nagging feeling emerges as Lance processes, curled tightly in his bed.</p>
<p>Knowing what he knows now, he cannot work with Keith anymore. He will never get those words out of his head or the sight of the snarl on his face and blade in his hand.</p>
<p>He also knows that Keith is worth more than him. Keith is more talented, more athletic, a better pilot, closer to Shiro. More important in every way really.</p>
<p>Pidge had also called the poison a truth serum of sorts. Did that mean Keith’s words about the rest of the team are also true? That they all resent him and feel held back by him?</p>
<p>Lance stifles a sob.</p>
<p>He knows, in this situation, he is the one who needs to leave. He can’t expect someone as valuable and worthy as Keith to leave Voltron.</p>
<p>It has to be him. Lance. A boy from Cuba who dreamed of the stars, reached them, and then failed. Maybe he has been failing all along, only succeeding through luck and bluffing confidence to everyone around him. You can only bluff for so long though and Lance’s time has run out.</p>
<p>He imagines having to tell the team this, having to explain that he knows how pathetic he is now and that they need to find another blue paladin. He sees the pity in their eyes and the half-hearted attempts to keep him there. He sees the veiled hate in Keith’s eyes and the awkwardness.</p>
<p>He can’t do it.</p>
<p>So he makes an impulsive decision. One that, ultimately, works out the best for everyone.</p>
<p>Except maybe Lance, but hey, he is the least important person on the ship right now, so it’s fine.</p>
<p>He doesn’t pack much. He doesn’t feel like he needs anything, possibly even deserves anything. The others don’t even know as he slips out, enters a pod and leaves, having no idea what his next step is beyond getting away from a place he is no longer welcome.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I promise I'll fix it...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lance regrets some of his decisions and then unexpected guests show up in his new "home." Also, some explanations are given.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, one more chapter.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lance is only gone for a day before he regrets his choice. He didn’t bring much and he is hungry and thirsty with limited supplies. He also needs to, eventually, find somewhere to land and…do something. Find a job? Find a ship back to Earth somehow? Hope the Galra don’t find him?</p>
<p>He decides to aim for the basic three right now-shelter, food, and water. He can figure out the rest later.</p>
<p>He gets increasingly concerned as he realizes that he is running out of gas in the pod though. He spends a few white-knuckled hours looking into the abyss of space before, thankfully, a planet reaches his sight. He decides he has to chance it and lands while hoping the atmosphere won’t boil his blood or something.  </p>
<p>The planet he lands on thankfully has patches of open land mixed in with broad trees that had huge, flat leaves on them. It looks similar to certain jungles on Earth, except a bit off. The shapes are a bit wrong, the colors a bit off, the atmosphere a bit heavier.</p>
<p>But, it will do.</p>
<p>Lance spends one very lonely, miserable night sleeping in a makeshift shelter of leaves on the ground with one big one over his body. The night is unsettlingly quiet, devoid of the wildlife Lance thinks should be there. He wonders if he is on a planet that has no life, not wildlife, not civilized life. Will he just starve to death here, alone, sleeping on a bed of slimy leaves?</p>
<p>The morning comes and Lance limps over to where he thinks he hears a stream. He just consumed the last of his water supply and knows he won’t survive long without finding something else to drink. He can figure out his other issues later, like where to find food, how he will survive without contact with other living beings, and how to deal with the fact that Keith actually hates him.</p>
<p>Actually and literally hates him.</p>
<p>Lance’s chest tightens. He feels embarrassment. Shame. He doesn’t understand how he could have so grossly misjudged the situation. He actually thought he bonded with Keith and that he was a valued member of the Voltron team. How silly of him.   </p>
<p>Even knowing that he is unwanted, he can’t really accept the fact that he may never see his friends again. Shiro and Allura and Coran. Pidge and Hunk. And Keith, as complicated as Lance feels about him now.</p>
<p>Movement out of the corner of his eye makes Lance freeze. He stills, looking ahead through another little clearing.</p>
<p>Through the leaves, he sees something moving, something large. Lance tenses, hand grabbing for his bayard before realizing that he had left it and every other weapon behind. Another possible mistake.</p>
<p>Then, unbelievably, he sees a mulleted head pop out of the leaves.</p>
<p>Keith.</p>
<p>Keith is here.</p>
<p>His piercing violet eyes rip right through Lance. </p>
<p>The leaves rustle more and Pidge appears at his side.  </p>
<p>They are all frozen in time, staring wide-eyed at each other. Time stops. Pidge looks excited. Keith looks at him with a strange look, face pinched and a surprisingly soft look in his eyes.</p>
<p>It only takes a moment for Lance to realize what is happening. Unless he is hallucinating, they are there to bring him back. Keith is there to apologize and pretend like he doesn’t hate Lance, even though he does. The emotional truth serum says so.</p>
<p>Lance doesn’t want to do this. He doesn’t want to awkwardly have to listen to apologies and pleas to bring him back when he knows what they all think of him now.</p>
<p>So he turns and runs.</p>
<p>He runs blindly, moving as quickly as possible through the jungle. He turns and looks only once to see that Keith is running after him, face determined, arms pumping. Pidge is struggling to keep up behind them, trailing behind Keith.</p>
<p>Lance grimaces. Why can’t they just leave him alone? Why can’t they just let him go?</p>
<p>He increases his speed, running as fast as he can, blindly crashing through the leaves and clearings. He chances a glance back every once in a while. He can never quite shake Keith though. His longer legs give him an advantage, but Keith is naturally so fast and also seemingly determined to make Lance miserable. Like, he can’t even let Lance win this, let him run away and avoid having to face his failures as a paladin and person.</p>
<p>Soon, Keith is not just staying close, but also gaining ground. Lance’s lungs are burning and he knows he can’t do this much longer. In desperation, he tries to force his body to continue forward.</p>
<p>“Laaaaaaance,” Keith screams.</p>
<p>He would say no, go away, but he can’t even catch his breath to do so. His knees start shaking and he knows it’s over. It isn’t much longer before a hand catches on his shoulder, sending both boys tumbling to the ground. Lance winces as he hits the ground, then immediately tries to get up and run again. Keith drags him back down though, forcing him to the ground.</p>
<p>Lance gives up, flopping onto his back and putting his hands over his face. He is silent, catching his breath and waiting for Keith to talk.</p>
<p>“Lance,” Keith says again, voice raspy and pained.</p>
<p>“You can’t just back off, can you? I know ok? I know how you feel about me.”</p>
<p>“No, Lance. No. You don’t. You,” Keith gasps again.</p>
<p>Lance looks up, surprised. He realizes then that Keith is shockingly pale, even for him. His eyes are lined with red. He looks more winded than he should for that run.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter though.</p>
<p>“Just let me…just, whatever. Ok. You hate me. The entire team hates me. Just, why…” Lance says, trying to control his emotions.</p>
<p>Lance’s words break down, suddenly falling apart at the sight of Keith’s pained face though.</p>
<p>“No, Lance, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was poisoned and…”</p>
<p>“And you told the truth.”</p>
<p>“No! Please…Lance, come back and we will explain. I’ll explain,” Keith wheezes.</p>
<p>“I’m not coming back. Ever. You are probably thrilled,” Lance says, bitterly.</p>
<p>Keith slams a hand down on Lance’s chest.</p>
<p>“I like you! A lot. I really like you.”</p>
<p>Lance laughs without humor. “You don’t have to lie. I’m a big boy, I can take it when people don’t want me around. So, how long has the entire team hated me?”</p>
<p>Keith looks stricken, mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.</p>
<p>It is then that they hear something crashing up behind them.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, you guys, shit…” Pidge gasps as she finally catches up. “Long-legged freaks.”</p>
<p>She bends over, hands on her knees, gasping for breath.</p>
<p>“I’m not coming back, Pidge. You two just need to go back and…” Lance starts.</p>
<p>“I was wrong! I translated the text incorrectly!” She responds.  </p>
<p>“Just stop lying!”</p>
<p>“It isn’t a lie. I wasn’t sure about the translation when you overheard us. I figured it out though! The bugs do exactly what I said, except that it <strong>reverses</strong> feelings. It makes you feel the opposite of what you really feel. It was manufactured by the Galra as a way to create problems, subtly, from within teams and groups of people.”</p>
<p>“Stabbing me in the chest doesn’t exactly feel subtle.”</p>
<p>Pidge grins then, a smug Cheshire cat facial expression that feels out of place at the moment.</p>
<p>“It was originally designed to cause subtle problems. Like turns to dislike, dislike turns to like, trust turns to mistrust, mistrust turns to trust. It is an actually brilliant way to sow small ripples of issues among groups of people. However, the affect it has on people who have particularly strong feelings about each other are too dramatic to be effective because strong feelings result in actions that are anything but subtle. In fact, it is quite obvious that something is wrong, like, oh, say trying to kill someone you normally wouldn’t.”</p>
<p>“What does that mean?”</p>
<p>Keith is suddenly very quiet and very still.</p>
<p>“It means that extreme hate and violence turns into uncontrollable love and, more applicable here, extreme love turns into extreme hate and violence.”</p>
<p>“So…” Lance’s brain works furiously.</p>
<p>“It means that dumbass over there has something to tell you.”</p>
<p>Lance looks up at Keith who is now very red.</p>
<p>“The important takeaway is that it reverses feelings, it makes people feel the opposite of what they actually feel. Lance, please, listen to me when I say you are a valued member of our team and that we all love and trust you with our lives.”</p>
<p>Pidge holds eye contact him for a moment and Lance can see that she is serious.</p>
<p>“And now, I will leave you two alone, because I think you have a lot to talk about and someone has a lot to apologize for.” Pidge glares daggers at Keith who wilts under her gaze.</p>
<p>Then she walks away, leaving a stunned Lance with Keith, alone in the strange forest.</p>
<p>Lance takes a deep breath and turns toward Keith, who clears his throat.</p>
<p>“Lance,” he starts.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lance and Keith talk-the conclusion of the fic!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There is an awkward moment of silence that extends for just a moment too long. Keith looks like he is going to combust on the spot, leaning back to sit on the ground next to Lance and so red that he matches his armor. Lance throws him a bone.  </p>
<p>“Look, Pidge probably translated it wrong. I know you don’t actually like me…” Lance starts.</p>
<p>“I do! I do like you…”</p>
<p>“Well, ok, so, maybe you don’t hate me, but…”</p>
<p>“Stop! I’m crazy about you. I…”</p>
<p>“So I drive you crazy, I get it…”</p>
<p>“Lance! Stop!” Keith rubs a hand down his face. “I’m not good at this. Just let me talk.”</p>
<p>Lance stares at him.</p>
<p>“Ok, maybe don’t look at me while I say this.”</p>
<p>“Are you for real right now,” Lance snorts.   </p>
<p>“I just…I planned to never say this to you, to anyone, but now I have to…”</p>
<p>“You don’t have to do anything.”</p>
<p>“Yes, yes I do.” Keith fidgets, rubbing his hands through his hair.  </p>
<p>“Just relax, Keith. It’s just me, the seventh wheel of Voltron,” Lance says, trying to lighten the mood. It does the exact opposite though as Keith jerks his head up, intensity filling his face.  </p>
<p>“Stop! Ok! No one thinks that and I love you? Alright. I love you…you are my first wheel?” Keith says.</p>
<p>Lance stiffens, unable to comprehend the words and the fire in Keith’s eyes.</p>
<p>So he changes the subject matter.</p>
<p>“What is this?” Lance asks, reaching out but not touching Keith’s arm, which he now notices is bandaged. Lance sees a little blood bleeding through the bulky bandages.</p>
<p>“I broke my wrist when I punched the glass…did you hear what I said?”</p>
<p>“Why is there blood?”</p>
<p>“I cut my knuckles open too…it doesn’t matter!”</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you go into a pod?”</p>
<p>“Because I needed to see you first. I was so worried that you…Are you ignoring what I just told you?”</p>
<p>“So you remember everything that happened?”</p>
<p>“Yes, everything. Stop changing the subject. I love you.”</p>
<p>“Am I supposed to believe that?” Lance clenches his fist in anger that Keith would play with him like this.</p>
<p>“Yes! Pidge just proved it with science!”</p>
<p>“She was wrong once, she could be wrong again.”</p>
<p>“You overheard her when she wasn’t finished. She wasn’t wrong! I love you! Shut up and accept it!”</p>
<p>“I get that you are just trying to make me feel better about everything but this is cruel, Keith.”</p>
<p>Keith huffs angrily. “You frustrate me so much! Why can’t anything be easy with you? Don’t you think I would prefer not to love you? Wouldn’t everything be easier for me if I just thought of you as a friend or teammate?”</p>
<p> “There is no way you could love me…”</p>
<p>Keith is still looking him straight in the eyes, deadly serious, and Lance feels the first flutters that maybe he isn’t lying.</p>
<p>“How could I not?”</p>
<p>Lance searches his face. His face is genuine, eyes earnest and soft.  </p>
<p>It’s still too overwhelming. He can’t believe it, not that KEITH loves him. It’s unfathomable.</p>
<p>“We should get back,” Lance says.</p>
<p>“You don’t believe me.” Keith leans back, a blank look on his face. “I remember everything. I wanted to come play with you in the snow. Shiro told me to go. I think he suspects how I feel. Then it’s like I couldn’t control myself. I just…”Keith shudders. “I still remember the look on your face. Lance, I’m so sorry. I can’t…”</p>
<p>Lance is surprised to see Keith is shaking.</p>
<p>“Listen, I know you didn’t mean to…” he says, reaching out to Keith again.</p>
<p>“The things I said and did to you. It’s like I was doing or saying the opposite of what I really meant. Your face is really cute and not ugly. I wanted to kiss you, not stab you. We all value you and want you here. Blue chose you for a reason. It’s like everything I always wanted to say came out, but wrong.”</p>
<p>“It’s fine…here, I forgive you,” Lance says lightly.</p>
<p>“Stop blowing this off. I know you better than you think I do. You are insecure and I…” Keith shivers again. “I said things that hit those insecurities and I didn’t mean any of it. If I really didn’t like you why would I try to stand next to you all the time? Why would I ask you to train with me? Why did I come over and have a snow fight with you? Lance, I’m gay and really gay for you.”</p>
<p>The confession surprises Lance. It feels personal and Keith doesn’t exactly go around giving out personal details. In his heart of hearts, he knows Keith doesn’t hate him. If he did, it would show, especially when connecting through Voltron.</p>
<p>“I…wow. So you like…really like me? Love me?”</p>
<p>Keith nods.</p>
<p>“What do you love?”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“What exactly do you love about me?” Call it cruel, but Lance needs to hear it.</p>
<p>Keith takes a long, shaky breath and then somehow turns even redder. “You have a nice voice.”</p>
<p>“What?”</p>
<p>“Your voice. It’s nice. You have a nice laugh. I hear you singing sometimes around the castle and it’s good. And you have this little grin you get when you are happy about something. Your eyes are all sparkly…I’m not good at this. I’m not good with words. But I trust you with my life, you are talented, and you are hot.”</p>
<p>“Wow,” Lance says.</p>
<p>“I’d rather die than tell you before, but I’d rather you make fun of me for the rest of my life than have you believe that I don’t like you or that the entire team doesn’t love you. You are part of the family, Lance, a major part that holds us all together. I won’t be able to live with myself if you thought any differently because I got poisoned by stupid bugs.”</p>
<p>Lance nods slowly. “I would never make fun of you for that. Just…this is a lot to process.”</p>
<p>“It’s ok. I needed to tell you. I know you don’t like me back and that’s fine. It won’t get in the way of our teamwork, I promise. I just know you and you will worry that anything I said is true and it’s not. We value you. I value you. We can’t do this without you.”</p>
<p>Lance sighs and lays back down, putting his hands over his face. I mean, why not shoot his shot? “I don’t not like you,” he mutters.  </p>
<p>Keith stiffens beside him. “What does that even mean?”</p>
<p>“I might…just might have a little crush on you?”</p>
<p>Keith scoffs and then his eyes widen when Lance doesn’t say anything.</p>
<p>“What? You’re straight and can barely stand me!”</p>
<p>“We both know neither of those statements are true.”</p>
<p>“You call me you rival!”</p>
<p>“Rival, crush, same difference…wanna…go on a date or something?”</p>
<p>“A date?” Keith laughs.  </p>
<p>“Why not?”</p>
<p>“We are in the middle of a war…” Lance’s face falls. “Which means we will need to sneak behind Allura’s back to do it.”</p>
<p>“She sleeps like the dead. That will be easy.”</p>
<p>Keith smiles at him and Lance lets himself smile back.</p>
<p>“We should really get back now. You’re in pain, aren’t you?”</p>
<p>Keith nods.</p>
<p>“Here, let’s go.”</p>
<p>They slowly walk toward where Keith says the lions are. Lance notices that Keith is still shivering and frowns.  </p>
<p>“What’s wrong?”</p>
<p>“I still remember the blade, your face, the blood…It’s bad, Lance.”</p>
<p>“We will heal together, yeah? Me and you, Keith and Lance, neck and neck…dealing with trauma like space ranger partners,” Lance says, tentatively hooking his pinky with Keith’s.</p>
<p>Keith looks up at him and smiles. Lance notices that his eyes crinkle a little when he smiles.  </p>
<p>“Yeah, I like the sound of that.”  </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Shape of Lance update soon and then Blood Bath :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading</p></blockquote></div></div>
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